KEENE, N.H. –
Lilah Carr and
Emma Bazin scored within eight minutes of each other in the first 20 minutes as the Keene State College field hockey team built a 2-0 lead, and the Owls then relied on their defense to ward off the University of Southern Maine in the second half as KSC spoiled the Huskies' bid for an unbeaten conference record with a 2-1 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.
Although the seeding for both teams was more-or-less determined when the game started thanks to a comfortable lead for Plymouth State University over Western Connecticut State University, KSC (12-7, 5-2 LEC) will head into a playoff run in which they look to make it three consecutive championships with building momentum – winning five of their past six games following four consecutive losses (all by one goal). The Owls will be the No. 3 seed in the LEC tournament bracket and host No. 6 seed University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Tuesday night at the Owl Athletic Complex, with the Corsairs having qualified thanks to WestConn's 6-1 loss to Plymouth nullifying their result (a 6-2 loss) against Eastern Connecticut State University. Entering the day, the Owls were guaranteed at least third but could have moved to second if the Wolves, playing for their playoff life, upset the Panthers to go along with a KSC win.
Regardless, the Owls were all over Southern Maine (13-7, 6-1 LEC) early, outshooting them 7-1 in the first quarter and earning all seven penalty corners in the first half. It was goals off two corners that helped stake KSC to their early lead, which stayed 2-0 heading into the locker room. On the Owls' fifth corner of the first quarter,
Kayln Arnold passed to
Meghan Daileanes at the top of the circle, and her whack toward cage found its way to Carr for a tip-in by the right post to break the ice and give KSC a 1-0 lead.
The Owls kept pushing, doubling their lead a minute after
Tori Kelly had to make her first save in the 20th minute on a laser of a goal by Bazin off around-the-horn passing, with Arnold inserting to
Ella DiMatteo on the right side of the circle, who found Daileanes, who found Bazin for a laser of a shot blew past Haylee Romasco to make it 2-0.
Southern Maine was held to just five shots and did not have a corner in an opening 30 minutes where KSC had the clear advantage in the run of play.
That changed out of the locker room in a big way, with the Huskies earning a parade of corners – including seven in the third quarter alone – but the Owls came up big, denying all but one including a sequence where
Tori Kelly made three stops in a matter of six seconds halfway through the period. She made another stop in the 40th minute and KSC finally began to get their second half legs as the third wound down, but Romasco made a trio of saves including a pair off KSC corners to keep it a 2-0 game and within reach for the visitors with 15 minutes to go.
Grace Estes got the Huskies on the board with a little less than 11 minutes to go, with the visitors scoring off their own corner to make it 2-1, but KSC weathered the storm and USM's press, holding the Huskies without a shot attempt for nearly the final eight minutes after Kelly stopped Leah Thibodeau and Maddie Niles within seconds in the 53rd minute. The Owls had the only corner and the only three shots in the final five minutes.
Kelly finished with nine saves in an impressive effort, helping the Owls finish with wins against five of the six Little East Conference tournament-qualifying teams. Romasco made four saves in the loss for USM.
It was the first meeting between the teams since a thrilling penalty shootout win for KSC in the Little East tournament semifinals last year in Keene, a game that saw the Owls rack up over 40 shots and completely dominate the second half to erase a two-goal deficit with
Grace Bazin authoring the tying goal with less than 20 seconds left on a penalty stroke. She then won the game in the shootout, helping KSC eventually lock up their second straight and league-record 16th championship with a 1-0 road victory at Eastern Connecticut State University.
Their quest for three – a mission completed just today by the KSC men's cross country team – will begin with a 6:00 p.m. start against UMD (3-16, 2-5 LEC) on Tuesday. The Owls pummeled the Corsairs 7-0 in Keene on September 19, outshooting UMD 20-1 on goal. It will be the 11th meeting all-time between the two sides in the playoffs, with UMD being KSC's biggest league competitor in the early 2010s.
